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TRIBUTES have been paid to a man who died after he was crushed by a tram at an engineering workshop.

Neighbours told The News the quiet and private 63-year-old, named locally as George Manser, will be ‘sadly missed’ after he was tragically trapped against a wall by the tram at Manser Precision Engineering.

Firefighters were called to the business at 6.30pm on Sunday after a visitor to the premises made the upsetting discovery in Barnes Lane, Sarisbury Green, and called 999.

Nearby resident Joan Clarke, 79, pictured right, said she did not know the man but always waved at him when she saw him.

‘He loved his old tram, that I presume he overhauled,’ she said.

‘It was his pride and joy to take it up and down the road.

‘He will be sadly missed, he really will.’

She added: ‘He was very polite, he kept himself to himself.

‘I think he’s got a son living around here.’

The deceased man was a regular sight in the area and was often seen at the premises.

Another man, who did not want to be named and had known the dead man for around 10 years, said he was quiet.

‘He was a very quiet man, he kept to himself,’ the man said.

‘He had his own little life looking after all his engineering stuff.’

He added: ‘That was his museum.’

The man said police were called when another man discovered the body.

Around 10 firefighters, the ambulance service and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight air ambulance were sent to the scene. The helicopter did not land.

A spokesman from Hightown fire station said: ‘We arrived and somebody was trapped.